01-2251 & 01-2252 Lewis v. Sullivan

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“Although Congress must act rationally when deciding which litigants must contribute toward the costs of the judicial system, we have already held, see Zehner v. Trigg, 133 F.3d 459 (7th Cir. 1997), that it is within the legislative power to place special limitations on prisoners’ litigation. Prisoners have ample time on their hands and have demonstrated a proclivity for frivolous suits to harass their accusers, the guards, and others who caused or manage their captivity. Section 1915(g) singles out only a subset of prisoners – those who have established, by their own conduct, that they are among the abusers of the judicial system. Requiring persons who have abused the forma pauperis privilege in the past to pay in the future is a sensible and modest step. See, e.g., In re Sindram, 498 U.S. 177 (1991) (requiring abusers to prepay in future cases); In re Skupniewitz, 73 F.3d 702 (7th Cir. 1996) (sustaining against constitutional attack a bar on civil litigation by abusers who have failed to pay sanctions). Section 1915(g) would come in for trouble if, like the statute in Lindsey v. Normet, 405 U.S. 56 (1972), it required one class of litigants to pay more than the full cost of litigation (in Lindsey the statute required an appellant to post a bond for double the judgment and costs). But since even full payment of the $150 filing fee leaves prisoners the recipients of a net subsidy, they have no complaint. Anyway, everyone allowed to proceed in forma pauperis owes the fees and must pay when able; the line drawn by sec. 1915(g) concerns only the timing of payment. Section 1915(g) does not have a substantive effect. That’s why we held it applicable to cases in which the “strikes” predate the PLRA. See Abdul- Wadood v. Nathan, 91 F.3d 1023 (7th Cir. 1996).”

Reversed.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Crabb, J., Easterbrook, J.